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Uber doesn't need to offer wheelchair-accessible vehicles in all cites, judge rules
A federal court has ruled that Uber does not need to provide wheelchair-accessible service in every US market.
FTC rules that health apps must notify consumers affected by data breaches
The FTC ruled that companies producing health apps must inform users impacted by data breaches, lest they face a financial penalty of over $43,000 per day.
Twitter will keep fighting to share government data requests
Twitter’s years-long battle over government surveillance and transparency isn’t over yet.
Supreme Court rejects Trump's attempt to end DACA
The US Supreme Court rejected Trump's attempt to dissolve DACA, immigrant protections supported by tech CEOs.
US appeals court will not rule on repealing net neutrality laws
A US appeals court said it will not reconsider an October ruling that upheld the repeal of net neutrality laws, Reuters reports. Tech and advocacy groups, along with 15 states, had requested that the ruling be reconsidered. The appeals court's decision marks another win for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and allows the repeal of net neutrality laws to stand.
Uber is leaving Colombia after court ruling
Uber has once again been kicked out of an entire country. The ridesharing firm is shutting down operations in Colombia on February 1st after a December court ruling that it violated transportation laws. It intends to appeal the ruling, which it called "arbitrary" and a violation of a free trade deal that protects American companies' subsidiaries. For now, though, this will leave about 88,000 drivers (and 2 million customers) resorting to alternatives.
The legal battle over 3D-printed guns is far from over
Last year, Defense Distributed won a legal battle, which allowed it to continue uploading and sharing blueprints for 3D-printed guns. The decision was immediately criticized by states and gun-reform advocates. Now, a US District Judge has overturned the ruling. Once again, it is illegal to publish blueprints for 3D-printed guns online.
Facebook agrees to pay the UK £500K for the Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook may be looking ahead to the 2020 election, but it's still sweeping up debris from 2016. Today, Facebook agreed to pay the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) £500,000 (about $644,000) for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. As part of the deal, Facebook will not admit to any wrongdoing.
Georgia court rules police need a warrant to get data from your car
Your connected car data might be safer from prying eyes -- Georgia's Supreme Court has ruled that police need a warrant to obtain personal data from cars. The decision overturns an earlier state Court of Appeals ruling that defended police obtaining crash data from a car in a vehicular homicide case. The state and appeals court "erred" by claiming that the data grab didn't violate defendant Victor Mobley's Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures, according to the Supreme Court.
Judge refuses to block the release of ‘The Laundromat’ on Netflix
A judge in Connecticut has refused to block the release of The Laundromat, which arrived on Netflix today. Earlier this week, the lawyers portrayed in the film filed a defamation claim, arguing that the movie unfairly cast them in a negative light. As Deadline reports, Judge Janet Bond Arterton has refused to issue the injunction, but only because Arterton says the Connecticut court had no jurisdiction over the issue. Instead, the case will be transferred to California.
FISA court: FBI use of NSA's electronic surveillance data was illegal
A US court ruled that some of the FBI's electronic surveillance activities violated the constitutional privacy rights of Americans. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) deemed that FBI officials improperly searched a National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence database for info on Americans. The ruling was made last year but just revealed by the intelligence community today.
Europe's top court rules that Facebook can be ordered to remove illegal content
Courts in the European Union can now order Facebook to remove user comments deemed illegal, according to a new ruling by the EU's highest court, which has implications for the way countries can manage content bans beyond their borders.
Google told it doesn't have to apply 'right to be forgotten' results globally
In a landmark privacy case, an EU court has ruled that Google does not have to apply "right to be forgotten" laws globally. That means it will only need to remove disputed search results in Europe, and nowhere else, after receiving an approved takedown request.
Judge recommends bitcoin ‘creator’ turn over earnings in lawsuit
The self-proclaimed creator of bitcoin, Craig Wright, has been ordered to hand over half of his bitcoin earnings and intellectual property (IP) -- earned before 2014. They'll go to the estate of David Kleiman, who may or may not have co-created the cryptocurrency. The ruling, reported by CoinDesk, is the latest development in a $10 billion lawsuit. In 2018, Kleiman's brother accused Wright of fraudulently claiming that Kleiman signed over ownership and control of W&K, a company Kleiman ran. Wright was allegedly after Kleiman's Bitcoin earnings.
Federal judge rules Qualcomm violated antitrust rules
Roughly five months after the Federal Trade Commission and Qualcomm entered the courtroom over charges that Qualcomm engaged in anti-competitive behavior, a federal judge has sided with the FTC. In a decision shared Tuesday night, US District Judge Lucy Koh stated that Qualcomm violated antitrust laws, The Wall Street Journal reports. In her decision, Koh said the company charged unreasonably high royalties for its patents and eliminated cell phone chip competitors.
FCC proposes blocking robocalls by default
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been fighting robocalls for years, but as anyone with a cell phone can tell you, they're still getting through. Now, the Commission wants to make it legal for phone companies to block unwanted robocalls by default. Chairman Ajit Pai has circulated a declaratory ruling that, if adopted, would give carriers permission to develop new call blocking tools. The ruling could also allow consumers to prohibit calls from numbers that aren't on their contact lists.
Jury decides Apple violated three Qualcomm patents in iPhones
Following a two-week trial, a jury has determined that Apple violated three Qualcomm patents in some iPhones. The jury awarded Qualcomm $31 million, the full amount it was seeking, though Apple had won a ruling to limit the potential payout.
Uber will pay $20 million to settle drivers' lawsuit
Uber's ongoing driver lawsuit issue could be winding down. The ride-hailing company has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a legal battle instigated by drivers nearly six years ago, according to court filings. Drivers for the company argued that they are Uber employees, not independent contractors as Uber states, and are therefore entitled to expenses and wage protections. Uber's proposed settlement sees drivers receive a payout for expenses, but will not change their status as independent contractors.
Germany lets users decide if Facebook can merge their WhatsApp and Instagram data
Germany is known for its no-nonsense approach to digital data gathering -- back in 2016 it took a hard stance against Facebook's use of WhatsApp data, and more recently announced its plans to investigate the Google+ data exposure. Now, its anti-trust watchdog Bundeskartellamt has ordered a crackdown on Facebook's data combination practices in a landmark ruling that could have wide-ranging repercussions for the social network.
EU courts told 'right to be forgotten' law should not apply globally
Europe's "right to be forgotten" law has consistently proven challenging since it was passed in 2014. For starters, requests may only be granted if information is considered "inadequate" or "irrelevant", but there's no clear ruleset for those terms, meaning it's essentially up to Google to decide what's eligible (and it's picky -- of 2.4 million requests submitted across four years, the search giant complied with only 43.3 percent). And as the law exists only in Europe, there's confusion over the applicability of the legislation to search results from other regions. If someone from the UK wants a result scrubbed, does Google have to remove it from its US domain too? Well according to a new non-binding ruling from one of Europe's senior chief advisors, the answer is no.
